Planning for and responding to an emergency or major incident

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We carry out our work based on the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which stipulates the duties local authorities play in planning for and executing responding to an emergency or major incident. This will often require us to carry out the following:

  • Supporting the emergency services and other organisations involved in the immediate response
  • Providing support services for the community and others affected by the incident. This could include:
    • Provision of Emergency Centres, with food and beverages, beds, and welfare services.
    • Provision of a Humanitarian Assistance Centre.
    • Provision of emergency sanitation and hygiene services.
    • Re-housing of those made homeless, in both the short and long term.
    • Inspection of and emergency repairs to housing.
    • Environmental health management.
    • Implementation of measures to control the spread of disease.
    • Establishing Community Assistance Centres for the dissemination of information and support to those affected by the emergency
  • Enabling the community to recover and return to normality as soon as possible.
  • Providing Mutual Aid to other local authorities on request.

Due to the above duties, there is likely to be a requirement for us to capture personal data of people affected by the Emergency / Major Incident, as well as those who are helping to respond to it.

Mutual Aid – It is possible that the response required for a major incident or emergency will exceed the resources available to any one London Borough, for example requirements for material resources such as bedding for an Emergency Rest Centre, sand bags, specialist plant, etc., or for human resources such as social workers, translators, building control officers, press officers, etc.  

Mutual Aid Agreements have been arranged to enable local authorities to quickly obtain support from each other.  All London local authorities are signatories to a mutual aid memorandum of understanding and this is coordinated via the London Local Authorities Coordination Centre (LLACC).  

London Resilience Forum – The London Resilience Forum sets the strategy for the work of the London Resilience Partnership. Local Resilience Forums were introduced in 2004 in the Civil Contingencies Act to provide the means for those involved in emergency preparedness to collaborate at a local level.

The London Resilience Forum ensures London’s preparedness in the event of emergencies and coordinates the activities of a wide range of organisations to achieve this. It also provides a link between emergency preparedness and resilience at the local and national levels.

Personal information collected

Due to the complexity of the work involved in Emergency Planning, providing a prescriptive list of data fields to be shared is difficult. Not all the information will be shared in every case.

Examples of personal and special category information that may be shared is listed below but this is not an exhaustive list.

  • Name
  • Address and postcode
  • Telephone (landline / mobile) phone number
  • Date of birth
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Data subject category (e.g. injured survivor), nature of support required
  • National Insurance Number
  • National Health Service Number
  • Nationality
  • Primary language
  • Equalities information, for example where religious beliefs affect how support can be provided to an individual
  • Medical information including support required and vulnerabilities
  • GP name and practice contact details
  • Care/service providers
  • Contact details of family members or significant others

Who we share the information with

  • Police 
  • London Fire Brigade
  • London Ambulance Service
  • Health Agencies 
  • Council services (Adults and Health, Children Services, Housing, Street Scene, Highways)
  • Government departments (DoE, DHSC, PHE)
  • Utilities Agencies (Electric, Gas, Water)
  • Professional regulatory bodies
  • UK Border Agency
  • Council legal service
  • Insurance companies
  • Other local authorities
  • Ofsted
  • Voluntary Agencies /Third Sector
  • Housing providers
  • Specialist Organisations (London / National Resilience Forums)
  • Professional Regulatory Bodies
  • Trade Unions
  • Home Office

Legislation that applies

The main legislation that informs emergency planning responsibilities are set out in primary legislation, regulations and statutory guidance, as below:

  • The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Part 1 – Local Arrangements for Civil Protection) (enacted November 2005).
  • The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) Regulations 2005.
  • Emergency Preparedness – statutory guidance on Part 1 of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, its associated Regulations and non-statutory arrangements, Cabinet Office.
  • Emergency Response and Recovery – non-statutory guidance accompanying the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

In addition to the main Act there are also a number of Acts and Regulations that apply to emergency planning and response, including:

  • The Local Government and Housing Act 1989.
  • Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH).
  • Public Information for Radiation Emergencies Regulations 1992 (PIRER).
  • Pipelines Safety Regulations 1996.
  • Food and Environment Protection Act 1985.
  • Public Health Act 1996 and Coroners Rules 1953.
  • Animal Health Act 2002.

How long we keep your information

All records relating to major incidents are retained for 50 years from the date of incident. All records relating to minor incidents are retained for 10 years from the date of incident.

Emergency plans, including business continuity plans, are dynamic documents where each version will replace the former version. Where a plan has been activated it will be retained with the records for that incident.

Emergency responders’ details are retained for 1 year from closed date.

Designated emergency centre records are dynamic documents where each version will replace the former version. Where a centre has been activated, relevant records will be retained with the records for that incident.